Confucius Says: Words Are the Voices of the Heart

I love words.
Good thing I suppose, given my chosen and hard-fought-for occupation. Every time I sit down at a keyboard or have a pen poised over a blank sheet of paper, I feel overwhelmed with excitement, with possibility, with anticipation. With a few key strokes or swipes of a pen, you can find the right combination of words that can make someone LOVE you.
Conversely, you can break a heart, manipulate a mind or sever an allegiance…all with those same strokes or swipes. Think about that. Legends are immortalized because of words. Nations go to war over words. Couples are united in matrimony with words. Hearts and lives are shattered due to words. The power they wield is, in a word, awesome.

“Every time I come around the corner and see your car in the driveway I get sick to my stomach.”
I sat on the couch during yet another face-off with my mother when she let fly with that condemnation, effectively shattering any sense of comfort and belonging I may have been clinging to at the time. I was 17. I’m 38 now, and I can hear those words in my ear as clear as if they were uttered 10 minutes ago. I can’t say that it was those exact words that led to the eventual, unsurprising demise of my relationship with my mother, but I know it was certainly a huge chunk out of the already crumbling foundation. It stands, to this day, as one of the worst things anyone has ever said to me.

But, as I said, words are powerful. They have healing properties. Let me give you a scenario. I was visiting a friend at what is now, TCNJ (then it was Trenton State College). My boyfriend of about a year had just broken up with me, quite unceremoniously, at a party the night before. I was feeling kind of blue, just sort of moping around the campus waiting for my friend’s class to end. While aimlessly wandering through the bookstore, I saw an old friend from high school, a guy who graduated a year ahead of me. We got to talking about life after high school and what my plans were and all of that idle small talk, when he looked me right in the eye and said, “Well Cas, the thing is, I hear you’re an excellent writer.”
What followed is not a Cinderella-like ending of fairytale romance (this is me we’re talking about) between Matt Opacity (that was his name) and your Lang teacher. We didn’t fall into each other’s arms and swear undying love—it wasn’t even a romantic moment. He wasn’t trying out a brand-new pick-up line or even trying to soothe my bruised, dumped ego. It was a simple declaration that I am quite sure he would never even remember saying all these years later. But it’s impact on me was and is undeniable. Because of him, when I went back home, the first place I looked for a summer job was at a local newspaper called The Sandpaper. I landed a job as a stringer and at the tender age of 18, got my first ever piece of writing published. I even got paid for it! (It was an article on Tonkinese cats—don’t laugh!) Such is the power and the beauty of words.

So, that is the focus of this week’s blog question. I would like you to think about conversations you have had, arguments in which you’ve been embroiled, moments of bliss you have experienced. They all have one thing in common—WORDS.
The Yin: What is the worst thing anyone has ever said to you? Why do you think it was the worst thing? How did it make you feel?
And for the Yang (because there always is one): What was the best compliment you have ever received?
Who said it? Why do you think was it was the best compliment?
And finally, perhaps even MOST IMPORTANTLY, reflect on the fact that you highlighted these two particular comments. What do you think your choices of what was the best and worst thing anyone could say about/to you reveal about your personality? Much to think about, I know. Don’t delay!! (500 words/80pts)

"I Am Whatever You Say I Am..."

Ahhh...the unwitting brilliance of Eminem. What ever happened to him anyway? Well, where ever he may be, he gave us this week's blog question so clearly he has not outlived his usefulness!
How many times have you said to yourself, and for that matter, to anyone who would listen--"I don't care what anyone else thinks...". I know I've said it at least once in the past month! In our heart of hearts, though, do we really believe that?
It seems an age-old question, but it is one that may not have just one answer: to what extent do other people's perceptions of you have an impact on the decisions you make?
Peer pressure, parental pressure, self-imposed pressure, all these outside, or inside, forces have the potential to make you act, or react, in ways that you normally might not if never exposed to those influences. My question is: Why? Why do we care? Why is it important? Why do other people's perceptions or expectations of who we are have so much of an influence on us? Or do they? Be honest with yourself when you answer. After all, it's just us.
(400 words/55pts)

Devil's Advocate

Ahh...controversy. Intellectual conversations are rife with it, families are torn asunder by it, school boards thrive on trying to eliminate it. You should probably know that I am not someone who shies away from controversy or controversial topics. Quite the opposite, in fact. I believe that controversy and the topics that define it have much to teach us, and I am confident that the subject of this blog will only serve to reinforce that belief. Remember the golden rule of 204--to disagree is not to disrespect.


In 1999, a Gallup poll indicated that only approximately 60% of Americans believe that there is a hell. Out of that 60% only 4% were convinced that was their destination. So, first question--do YOU believe that hell exists? If so, do you know what it looks like? Smells like? Feels like? Where did your belief come from? Your parents? Your church? Your friends? What do you have to do in order to get there?
The word that is used most frequently in the New Testament for hell is Gehenna. Gehenna is a reference to the Valley of Hinnom located on the south side of Jerusalem, which served as the city's "garbage dump" during Jesus' time. The fires that burned here never went out. The Old Testament makes a reference to sheol as being a place where spirits reside (Deut. 32:22) and some of them will be resurrected to "everlasting life," while others are bound for "everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2) One is a worldly destination, the other spiritual. Which one sounds more realistic to you?
Dante Alighieri was a prolific writer who wrote the epic narrative poem titled Inferno in which the main character, Alighieri himself, travels through nine circles of hell. The main theme of this particular work is that there is a perfection to God's justice. Sinners on earth are relegated to various circles (or levels) of hell depending on the severity of sin. This would seem to indicate, at least in Alighieri's eyes, that there are varying degrees of sin and that each one is punishable in its own way. Do you believe this? If so, what is the worst sin that you can imagine and how should it be dealt with in hell?
Lastly, is it easily reconcilable to think of God as being the embodiment of love and grace yet imagine that it is through his word that people descend into hell, which is, ostensibly, a place of eternal suffering?
Think about it and let me know.
(50 pts/400 words)